The Markazian and the Lombax
by ratchetthe1s
Summary: So, like many other R&C Fanfics, this takes place after The Great Clock (ACiT) and it is A Adventure/Romance, Because, there not many RatchetxTalwyn stories out there, and there's definitely not many that have a great amount of action in them. So here's one for you all.
1. Chapter 1: Fake Reassurance

I would appreciate reviews, or PM me on how to make the story better, and I shall try to update it frequently, unless no one likes it or tells me to stop, It's all up to you guys. Also, for the start of this, its more K+ or T than anything, but it may go up, if you want more, just put it in a review or PM.

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Chapter 1 - Current Events

Our Hero's had just stopped Alister from destroying the universe as we know it. And, afterwards, set off back home. But, some strange happenings occur before they get there and reunite with their friends, Talwyn Apogee, and the two war bots, Cronk and Zephyr.

* * *

"So" Clank started "How's Talwyn?"

"Oh crap! I haven't contacted her since I left the Apogee Station"

"Well, let's ring her now" he said as he scrolled through the contact list "Ahh, here it is, Miss Apogee"

The phone rang for a while as they were waiting for someone to pick up. Finally, they heard a voice.

"Uhh, hello? I'm sorry, uhh, nows not the best time to ring now.."

"Zephyr? Is that you?"

"Ratchet?!"

"Hey Zephyr! How are ya doing?"

"I'm alright, but... Miss Talwyn, not so much..."

"Why? What's happened?"

"Well, ahh, you're apparently dead from when Nefarious' space station exploded"

"What?!"

"She hasn't been the same since..."

"Well, put her on, I need to let her know I'm okay, and alive."

"Alright, I'll try" he said, taking the phone away from his ear

"Miss Talwyn! There's a friend in the phone for you!"

"Go away!" Talwyn sobbed in the background

"Its important!"

"Just go!"

"Oh, come on Talwyn, they need to talk to you"

"Ugh, fine, I'll tell them to piss off myself" she said as she opened the door, snatched the phone from his hand, and slammed the door shut.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just not in the mood to talk right now, call me next week, or month, or better yet, next ye-"

"Talwyn" Ratchet cut her off

"What?!" She yelled "Who the hell are you anyway?!"

"It's me, Ratchet"

Do you THINK this is a good joke, at this time, pretending to be him, after what happened?!"

"No, wait. Talwyn, it's really me, its Ratchet"

"Really?" She snapped back, in a disbelieving tone

"Yes, Talwyn, it is Ratchet, We just left the great clock" Clank put in.

"...Clank? Wait, Ratchet?! What happened, the news said you DIED!"

"Well, that's not true. Look, I'll explain everything once we get back to the space station, okay? We'll see you in around 4 hours" Ratchet said

"Ok, I'm just glad your safe... I just couldn't handle the thought of..." she drifted off

"Well, I'm safe, and coming back, see you soon"

"Yup, just make it back in one piece, okay?"

"I promise I will"

He ended the call, relieved that he had talked to Talwyn, and touched by what she had said.

"Well" He said to Clank "that went well"

"Yes, a can not believe that the-"

"Warning, Warning." Aphelion interrupted.

"Unidentified metallic sphere homing in on u-" Aphelion was cut short as the ball crashed through the glass.

When the glass settled enough to see properly, Clank looked to his right and saw that Ratchet was knocked out, and running out of oxygen, fast.

He fumbled around for Ratchets O2 mask and got it on his friend, just as a Metal tentacle emerged from the sphere and shocked Clank forcing him to shutdown.


	2. Chapter 2: The Dead Mystery

So, here's part 2. Hope you like it as much as you did the first. Keep reading for more!

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It had been 3 days. 3 days since Ratchet rang and Talwyn was continuing to worry. As much as Cronk and Zephyr tried to comfort her, she just couldn't calm down, and now, at 3 in the morning, and she was getting ready for a rescue mission of sorts. She knew something must have happened, but the two old war bots wouldn't let her out, but she couldn't just leave it, it would kill her if he didn't turn up. So here she was, scrawling a little note saying what she's doing, taking her pistol, and Ratchets old Shredder claws, just incase she needs a melee weapon and left her fathers station.

She had traced the location of the call, and what route they were likely to take from there, which she would be back tracking. It was a 4 hour drive to their last known location, and that meant 4 hours of nothing to do, but worry. Music couldn't even distract her from her thoughts.

Torture?

A Crash?

Hijacked by pirates?

A problem with Aphelion?

She wondered what had happened…

Just over 3 and a half hours of asteroids and nothingness had past when a metallic dot in the distance caught her eye. She flicked on the afterburners, to get there quicker, but as she got closer, what she had feared, had came true. The large metal sphere and silver tentacles sprouting from it, we're on, and attached, to a ship.

Aphelion.

Ratchets ship.

She shoved on the brakes and came to a complete stop. Fearing the worst she got out some binoculars to check out the damage.

Aphelion looked different since when she was last at the Apogee station. But she had a smashed window and a massive metal sphere replacing it. Stuck all over the ship were silver tentacle like things, all coming from this strange metal ball. 'He's dead' she whispered to herself, holding back the tears. But things worse than death came to her mind… torture… a scavengers dinner… Held prisoner by a loony…

She decided to get the ball away and take Aphelion back with her, for some sort of clue to what had happened to the duo. She started up her ship again to get closer to get closer to cut the tentacles off. Then she would use her kinetic teacher on her ship to haul the ball away. As she approached the sphere, 3 of the tentacles unhooked from aphelion and went straight for her ship. cursing under her breath, she stopped the ship and got out her O2 mask just as three dull thuds marked that her ship was now being pulled towards the ball. She put the Shredder Claws on and got out over her ship. She sliced at one of the metal wires and noticed that it flung back and reabsorbed itself in the metallic sphere that was now less than 100 meters away. She had an Idea. If she hung on to it when it flung back, she could get a momentum boost to get to Aphelion quicker. She Acted fast, cutting both at once whilst hanging on to one of them, she nearly let go at the sudden tug of the metal arm being pulled back, but hung on just to get the momentum up. It was over in a flash, and she landed on the ship harshly, falling, and nearly being absorbed into the sphere with the tentacle. She took out both the claws, held them in a fighting stance, and started slashing at every arm she could see. Then she saw it.

A tail.

A fuzzy yellow tail that belonged to the Lombax she loved.

Her attention was pulled back to the fight when she felt her left leg being pulled out from underneath her. She braced herself as it pulled itself, and her with it, into the metal sphere.

Pulled tight against a hard abject, she felt something cold and sticky run down her arm. Blood, but not hers. As she opened her eyes she screamed as she saw the hunched figure sprawled over the computer in front of them.

Something that was vaporized all those years ago.

Something that had came back 4 months ago.

Cragmite. But not just a Cragmite.

A dead one.


	3. Chapter 3: Awkward Embraces

Hey, I just want to say thanks to the 100 or so people who have viewed my fanfic, you must be awesome!

Also, remember reviews, it's great to hear from you, the readers, how I'm going, its also good motivation to finish the story :)

Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

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"Ratchet! Ratchet!"

I heard my name being shouted. It seemed distant. I tried to follow it.

"Ratchet! Please.."

The voice was getting louder, and more emotional. I somehow opened my eyes, trying to focus on who was in front of me.

"R-Ratchet..?"

It was Talwyn, although rather than in front of me, she was sitting on my lap, facing me.

"Talwyn?"

"Ratchet?! Oh, I thought you were dead! Again!"

"I think I was just sleeping, the last thing I remember was a massive ball and then I was dreaming...wait! Is clank still here?!"

"He's right here, although I think that thing shut him down.."

I looked to my right, relieved he was still next to me.

"I'll take a look at him when we get back" I said

"So, you alright?" She said, pulling me into a hug

"Bit groggy, and really hungry, and exhausted"

"I can can tell...I'm just so relieved you're alive"

"Me too, dying right after I got this guy back, would've sucked. Plus... I wouldn't have been able to see you again, and that's just as bad" he said looking into her eyes.

There was a small 'chink' as my O2 mask hit hers. Embarrassed at what I had just done, I started blushing, only to find that she was doing the same.

"Sorry" I started "I jus-"

"Its fine" she cut in, hesitantly "don't worry about it"

After a couple of seconds, I ended the awkward silence that had popped up

"So, uhh, shall we get back"

"Oh, yeah, we should" she said, getting off me

"Well, not that I don't like..."

"I know what you mean, but, we better get back, Cronk and Zephyr will be going nuts because I left when they said I shouldn't..."

"Hahaha, I knew you'd do something like that. So, shall we get in your ship?"

"Yep, just grab Clank and we'll tow Aphelion behind us"

"Cool" I said as I grabbed clank and stood up on the ships bonnet.

"Could you quickly put him on my back, just for now? Normally he'd do if but.."

"Yeah sure" she said, taking clank off me "Oh, and sorry about your ship Ratchet, she got pretty wrecked.."

"Yeah.." I said whilst assessing the damage "Wait, what are those?" I said, pointing towards the countless, thin metal stumps dotted around Aphelion.

"I'll tell you when we get in my ship, there should be some footage of what happened out on your ship"

"Alright then, lets see I want to know what happened"

"Well, so do I" she said "I'm sorry, but it looks like we're gonna have to jump and glide our way there"

"Just as well there's no gravity, I probably wouldn't be able to stand otherwise"

"Haha, yeah, well, I'll race ya!"

"You go ahead" I said crouching down "I think there's a bit of glass in my shoe" I lied, instead, I put my on a low setting, so I wouldn't go at breakneck speeds with the zero gravity and set off to catch her

"Wow" she said, surprised "What are those?"

"Oh these? Just some hover boots I got from this guy called..." I drifted off, not wanting to mention Alister

"Called...?"

"Oh no one, just some guy"

"Who?"

"Its not important, and I don't really want to talk about it"

"Oh, come on! Who?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" I snapped and went ahead. Angry at myself, I turned to look at her, and, almost wished I hadn't. She looked like she'd just take a punch, her face was lined with shock and hurt.

"Sorry Tal" I said as I went back to her "It's just- well, what happened, it's, stressing me..." I pulled her into a hug "look, I promise, I'll tell you everything in the way back"

"Okay... I guess you've gone through some pretty life changing stuff, huh?"

"Yeah, and you don't know the half of it... well, not yet at least"

She held my hand as we made our way back to the ship, only letting go to bend down and manually open the window. I put clank down on the back seat and made my way to the front. The window was now closed, airtight, and the shop was filling up with oxygen.

"Well, all in all I'm just glad you alive. I honestly could not have lived without you" she said as she looked into my eyes. Seconds later our lips met in a romantic embrace, gently brushing against each other until a voice emanated from the back seat

"Ratchet? I have reboo- oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?"


	4. Chapter 4: Assassinated?

Hey Guys, Sorry for such a long wait. I had the worst headache since last Saturday, and I was coming up with crappy stuff, so I decided to wait until it went, and this is what I have written for you.

Also, big thanks to the 200 people who read my story last month, its cool knowing that 200 random people have read (And hopefully liked) My story. Feel free to give me some reviews on it, infact, please do, I love hearing what you guys think. Now I will stop blabbing on, here's the story

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"Ohh, ahh, well, you see..." the two stammered

"Do not worry, it is fine. So, apart from that, what have I missed? I register 78 hours and 42 minutes missing from my memory banks. Was I shut down?"

"Well, we think so..." Talwyn started, "Your ship was hit by a metal pod of sorts, there were Silver tentacle like things all over aphelion and a couple must have been attached to you"

"I see"

"Bit there is one more thing..."

"What?" The due replied in unison.

"Well, when I got to your ship, I first had to cut the metal tentacle things off, but they fought back. While fighting, I got pulled into the sphere, and inside it was... a dead Cragmite. But don't worry, I overrode the controls and erased all data, then destroyed the computer, and put it in the path of a large asteroid."

"Ok, that's good, but it still doesn't explain why a dead Cragmite 'flew' a metal sphere into aphelion"

"Yes, but lets just forget about it for now, I want to know everything about your trip ratchet"

"Yes, I have not heard it either, please begin"

So Ratchet explained his whole adventure, from planet Quantos to the great clock, exaggerating parts of it, and hesitantly explaining the parts that include Alister. When he finished, Talwyn was the first to break the silence.

"So... you met another lombax... and he nearly destroyed the entire universe... then he died saving it?... That must be pretty hard on you….." She drifted off, suddenly realising why he had such a violent outburst before. "Don't worry Ratchet" she said, pulling him into another hug "You've still got Clank. And you've still got me"

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine, I'll get over it sooner or later" A beep from the ships computer pulled the two out of the hug as Talwyn went to investigate what the notification was

"Hey Ratchet!"

"Yeah?"

"Aphelion is back online! We can chat to her through this microphone, and she'll reply, but in text on the screen"

"Cool! Hey Aphelion, you alright?"

The screen then suddenly burst into life, filling up with Aphelions words.  
' Yes Ratchet. I am suited to be ambushed like that, it happened many times to ships of my model during the great war, so the Lombax updated my make with a hidden hard drive, hidden camera, and a wireless transceiver that would normally be connected to a certain station. But the last one I was connected to was destroyed during the great war. That is the reason I didn't contact the Apogee Space Station.'

"Okay… Well, you said it had happened before…. Can you tell us more?"

'Yes, I have detailed information on these sorts of Cragmite Ambushes'

"Cool, just blurt it out onto the screen"

'Cragmite Assassin pods: Cragmite Assassin Pods were silver metallic pods equipped with a Hex J 32 sisterboard computer, up to 64 tentacle receivers, a 'Comfy-Plush-Crag-seat' Office chair for one, and cupholders were easily equippable at ones need. The Cragmites armed these Pods during the Great War in hopes of Assassinating unsuspecting species, top targets, Lombaxes. They would crash on to a ship, and the tentacles would latch on to any robotic material, forcing it to shut down, whilst hacking it and gathering information if the pilot of the Pod set it up that way. Cryosleep, mixed with oxygen would be let out, targeting organic life forms so that they could live, and be picked up by the Pilot, and taken back for many forms of torture. The tentacles that sprouted from the pod were also capable of attacking, and 'Snatching' people who fought back, pulling them in, and through the orb, next to the pilot. The Pilot would then most likely inject them with a sleeping drug to keep them at bay. The Pods stationed at the Cragmite Supply vessels, which could hold up to 12 Pods. The pods would normally not be too far away from these stations, and not be out of the docks for long'

"Well… Okay… Could you tell which direction it came from?"

'Yes, I hacked wirelessly into the Pod easily because it was unpiloted and had no antivirus protection. I am uploading the coordinates to Always ship now.'

"Cool, we'll quickly go there, and take it out, about how many cragmites will be there do you think?"

'Approximately 24'

"Are you sure you want to do this Ratchet?" Talwyn said, voice uncertain

"Yeah, just a quick trip, its best if we do this so that no other ships hail the same fate. Plus, you said that the Cragmite was dead, so maybe the others are too"

"Okay, but I'm coming with you, I don't want to loose you again"

"We'll be fine Tal, don't worry"


	5. Chapter 5: 'Quick' visit

Hey Guys, here's the next chapter! It's another one from Ratchets Point of View. Enjoy!

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"Are you sure you want to do this?" Talwyn asked "We could just go home, relax, have a soak in the spa, and eat, you look like you're starving!"

"It'll be fine. plus! You'll get to see my fancy new weapons" I grinned at her. She just smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Well, we can still have a spa when we get back, and some sort of smootie would be nice to go with it.."

"Yeah. Although before we do that, I would like to feast on something meaty, I'm starving!"

"Thought so. So shall we just head back now?"

"No" I said "I was gone for 3 day, and you we're as worried as hell, I don't want other people to feel that way too, not if I can help it"

"Okay... Wait, look over there... That sections trashed!"

I followed her gaze and saw what she meant, at least a third of the station was ripped off, how the hell did we miss that earlier?

"Well, that just makes it better for us then"

"I guess so..."

"Aphelion, since you've now fully rebooted, could you just look over us and shoot down any incoming hostile ships?"

'Yes Ratchet, with the new upgrades the Zoni have given me, I'm sure I'll have no problem'

"Zone upgrades?"

"Oh yeah, I collected some lost Zoni during my adventure, and well, they upgraded Aphelion"

"Hmmm, okay…"

" Okay, so Clank, you ready?"

"Yes Ratchet, I am ready"

"Tal?"

"Yeah, lets just get this over and done with already"

"Okay, cool"

I put my O2 mask on, and Talwyn did the same. Clank jumped onto my back, and locked on to my armour. I grabbed Talwyns hand as she opened up her ships window

"Okay, lets do this!" I said, flicking the switch to my Hover boots. We zoomed off to the Cragmite and headed for what seemed to be the main room with a big glass window. There was a big Crash aswe smashed through the glass, we landed in the ship and I got out my wrench as a habit.

"See Ratchet, no sign of life here"

"Clank, could you do a bioscan of the area?"

"Sure, just hold on a moment. Scanning... Scanning... Scanning... apart from us, the san indicates zero other life forms on this vessel"

"Hmm, okay... lets check it out anyway, see what's happened"

I walked through to the next room, only to find a blood splattered floor,

"Uhh Talwyn, you may want to check this out" I said as clank jumped down to see for himself.

"Ohh" He commented.

"Whats up?" Talwyn said walking into the room "ohh.." she said, seeing the massive pool of blood in the room.

"What ever killed these Cragmites might be worse than the Cragmites themselves..." I said

"Yes, and it must have happened recently, the blood is still warm, and it hasn't dried up" Clank observed.

"Yeah… Gross. Can't we just head back home? We'll send the Galactic authorities or someone to look around.

"Well, we'll check the rest of the ship, download something from a undamaged computer, and head home"

"Uhh, Okay…" Talwyn said, following me into the next room. I grabbed her hand and walked with her down the corridor. The next room was smaller, an office of sort, messy, books and holo-sheets everywhere but no blood...

"What's that beeping noise.." I said, as I let got of Talwyns hand and went upto the computer. I moved the mouse and the screen flashed on.

"Seems to be an old cragmite computer" Talwyn said coming up from behind me and reclaiming my hand

"Wait, what are those symbols..."

"That's weird, it's in Lombax... it says... huh? Memory wormhole device ready... what could that mean? The Cragmites are trying to get back to the other dimension the lombaxes sent them to during the end of the great war?"

Maybe, but what's that beeping? Its in sync with that flashing symbol... What does it mean..?"

"Uhh, its...Its a Timer! Is counting down! The device is active, I think we should-" she was cut off as we were enveloped in darkness.

"Talwyn!" I tried to shout as the three of us fell down through the dark.


	6. Chapter 6: Far, Far away

Hello! Just another thanks to everyone reading this, although I'm sure more than half of you will be skipping this little section, but thanks anyway!

And remember to write me reviews! I haven't had one for a while and would like some for each chapter please!

Anyway, here's the story!

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I woke up with a start. His arms were around me and I seemed to be holding onto him for dear life, I wondered what had happened. Something started poking me in the back so I decided to open my eyes.

We were surrounded.

Surrounded by a species that seemed intelligent, they had weapons in their hands and some sort of armour. We were lying down in the middle of a plateau, and the people who live here must be either suspicious, cautious, or angry. They were light brown, short, had big jaws, and yellowish eyes. They had short necks, if any, and small, but fairly stocky bodies. I heard voices, but I couldn't make out what they had said, I thought I'd better wake Ratchet up, he could get us out of this, ot at least get them away.

"Ratchet!" I whispered into his ear, shaking him to wake him up.

"Mmphh" was all I got in response. Then he tensed, realising something wasn't right. He opened his eyes, and had somehow found his wrench, ready in the hand. But when he saw who was surrounding us, his expression changed at an instant.

"Ratchet?" One of them said.

"Tool? Is that really you?"

"Yeah! Gee, it's been awhile! How've you been?"

"Been alright."

"More importantly, how did you get here?"

"Well, long story short, I lost clank and found him again, then on the way back home, found an old Cragmite vessel and went to check it out, while there, something counted down and now you woke me!"

He got up and shook the guys hand.

"So? How's Jewel?" he said, reaching towards my hand to help me up.

"She's good, made a new recipe for something sweet I heard yesterday"

"Yeah, sounds like her, where's everyone else? it's normally a bit busier here nowadays"

"Town meeting, but the guards spotted you and I offered to go look since I heard the words 'Yellow, Fluffy and big ears, hah. You came to my mind first, but I thought I'd bring along some others just incase"

"Right, well you can go back now, if you like, I'll probably head home and rest, being stuck unconscious in space for three days is not good on the stomach"

"Alright, but it sounds like you've got an interesting story. You three can go back, and report to the guards who it is, and I'll walk our Lombax friend to his garage.

"Alright, see ya later then"

"Bye" Ratchet and Tool said in unison

"So, who's the lady? She your girllllfriiend" he asked, teasing Ratchet and giving him a wink.

"Ohh, uhh, yeah, maybe, kinda, umm yeah, this is Talwyn, Talwyn Apogee"

"Well hello Miss Apogee, I'm Timothy Jones, but people call me Tool"

"Uhh, hi" I said nervously "So, Ratchet… where are we?"

"Oh yeah, you wouldn't recognise it. This is planet Veldin, Solana Galaxy. This is where I grew up"

"Uh huh, and we got here, how?"

"I dunno, didn't you say the computer said 'Memory Wormhole Device active' or something? I guess I was think about this place… I miss it here a bit"

"Okay, seems logical enough for now"

"So, Tool. Do you know how long we were out?"

"We just found you here this morning" Tool said "weren't sure if it were you or not, than we saw Clank and we were positive. Oh and he's shut down by the way"

"Hmm, okay."

We walked for a bit and came up to a garage. Ratchet was holding Clank, and Tool was Next to him, looking at some device"

"So Ratchet," I started "is this your old home?"

He put Clank down to put in the password then manually open the garage-like door

"Yeah, its not much, cheapest place I could find when I moved out at 15, just a year before I met Clank. Its not the best, but it's home nevertheless." He finished opening the door and stepped in. The place was basically a garage with a small room out back, benches lined the walls, covered in bits and pieces, and old weapons.

"We may be staying here awhile... Hey Tool!"

"Yeah?"

"Could you get us some food, I haven't eaten in more than 3 days!"

"Yeah sure, I'll be back in an hour, I'll bring the necessities, and your favourite shampoos since you're so picky!"

"Hahaha, Cool thanks"

He lay Clank down on the bench and went to his room. I followed him, and found him sitting down on his bed, looking around his room. I sat down next to him, and leant on him a bit.

"Sooo Ratchet.."

"Yeah Tal?"

"So, from your reaction to Tools question earlier... we're dating now?" I asked, slightly teasing

"Now, uhh, umm" he stammered "well... do you want to...?"

"You know my answer" I said before I kissed him on the cheek. "So, how long do you think we'll be here?"

"A couple of weeks" he said, putting his arm around me "relaxing time, we'll contact Cronk and Zephyr, and we can have a bit of fun here before we head back to Polaris"

"Cool, I'd like that" I said, hugging him tightly.

"I need it" he joked, returning the hug. "I.. uhh"

"Yeah?" I said.

"I'm just hungry, and tired" he said covered up badly. I decided to leave it for now, and pulled him down so we were both lying in the bed.

"Let's rest then"


	7. Chapter 7: Temporarily Forgotten

Hey guys, the next chapter is here! I think its a bit different from the other, so read and tell me what you think

Oh, and Thanks to those two people who reviewed my last chapter! You guys are great! :)

* * *

"Hey Tal, I just wanted to say I love you"

"I love you too Ratchet"

"I love you..." his voice changed. It went cold. evil. Menacing.

"Ratchet? You oka-"

Poof.

He disappeared to smoke, drifting upwards.

"Ratchet!"

There was a loud pitch of laughter from behind.

"C'mon lads, we feast on lombax tonight!"

It was slag back from the dead, holding a lifeless, tied up Ratchet, with blood oozing out from where his throat was slit.

"Ratche-" was all Talwyn could manage before a blade emitted from her chest, stabbed through her back from a pirate...

"Woah, Tal. You okay?"

"Uhh, yeah.." she replied, hesitantly.

"No, somethings up. Is it a nightmare?" She looked away, not wanting to answer.

"C'mon Tal" he said, pulling her into a hug "Just tell me... I can help"

"Well... its just... it this nightmare..."

"Yeah?"

"And it keeps coming back... its a recurring one"

"Okay, so can you tell me what happens in it?"

"Well, there's you and I, and we're talking..."

"About..?

"I'm not sure" she lied "its different every time... but, then you disappear and then theres pirates and then..." she drifted off and started sobbing into Rachets shoulder.

"Its alright Tal, don't worry" he cooed, hugging her tighter. He waited a couple of minutes, keeping her close until she calmed down. He pushed her away a bit to see her face, held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"Its about me, isn't it?"

She gave the smallest nod and he pieced the last bit of the nightmare together.

"Look Tal, that's not gonna happen. I've got a long way to go, don't worry."

She gave another small nod, trying to push the horrible image out of her head

"And Tal... I-... I... I love you"

"She looked up, half expecting him to evaporate into smoke. She just looked at him, continuing to expect him to disappear. But he didn't.

"Tal?" He asked, worried that took it the wrong way "Are... are you oka-" he was cut off as she closed the gap between them. Their lips brushed, softly at first as Ratchet wasn't expecting it, but it got more intense as the seconds passed. They fell onto the bed, still passionately kissing, Talwyn, now on top of Ratchet pushed him on down, and looked into his eyes.

"I love you too" she smiled at him. She rolled over next to him They lay there together for a while, thinking to themselves and smiling about what had just happened.

"So, should we get up? We're having visitors soon right?"

"Oh yeah, and food" he joked

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and got up.

Ding Dong the doorbell went, as Ratchet sat up, looking at Talwyn as walked out of the room.

"Food delivery for our Lombax friend!" Tools voice shouted from outside.

"I hope he brought some grueverries!" Ratchet said, jumping out of bed to get the door.

"What are those?"

"One word. De-li-cious" he said, as he got to the door and opened it.

"Hey Tool!"

"Hey! Ratchet!, the foods in here" He said, chucking ratchet the massive heavy looking box.

"Wow, thanks" Ratchet said, struggling to keep balanced from the sudden weight of the box.

"You'll find all of your favorites in there, from grueverries to that horrible expensive stuff that you always bought when you were last here"

"Hahaha, thanks mate. I owe you one"

"Yeap, next time I order space Pizza, I'll get you to pick it up" He said, winking to ratchet as they walked inside

"So, hows the little metal fella?"

"Oh, I uhh haven't checked on him, I'll do that now"

He went over to find clank only to find that he had somehow gotten up, and walked off the desk by accident, landed miserably, and looked somewhat damaged

"Clank!?" He said, in a worried tone. What happened, this is unusual for Clank, he's never done this before.

"Whats happened?" Talwyn said, rushing over to see Ratchet

"He fell somehow, I'm not sure how, and he's still off... I'm not sure whats happened"

Suddenly ratchet felt an awfully familiar sensation come over him, something that hadn't happened in years.

"Hey! Ratchet! Darn Cragmite virus got him, I did my best, but he fell off, the bench, knockin' me out. care to take em out so I can turn your pal back on?"


	8. Chapter 8: Nostalgia and Darkness

Hello to you all! Here's the next chapter! I must say, I've been getting quite a bit of views in the last few days so thanks to everyone. Especially those who have given me reviews, and multiple reviews. Talking of reviews, I like hearing what you guys are saying, it makes me want to write more, so if you like the story, guest or member, I'd really appreciate one :)

Oh and notice the weapons Ratchet takes out at the end of the story, If you know what i've done, you must be just as crazy as me about Ratchet and Clank. Anyway, I will talk no longer, enjoy!

* * *

Ratchet turned around to see an old looking robot dressed in a security outfit. It took him a while to remember who the old bot was. Clanks backup security system, who he helped to kill all the Technomites that invaded Clank all those years ago.

"Hey, I remember you, and my old shrink ray! I didn't realize clank still has that!"

"Oh yeah, he keeps a lot of things, he really needs to go through them all... anyway, back to the matter. A Cragmite virus had gone wild in Clank, so I thought you could help. I did my best, but I was afraid I'd damage something accidentally. I don't really shoot stuff often..." the officer confessed

"Yeah, of course I'll help. Anything for Clank" Ratchet said, but suddenly feeling guilty of forgetting about him earlier.

Never again. He told himself sternly. His attention was pulled away when he heard a loud rumble of a voice, and looked up.

"Crap." He muttered "uh, could I use that for a sec?" The Lombax said, gesturing to the Shrink ray in the cops hand.

"Oh sure, you gonna zap down ya girl up there?" He winked, cheekily.

"Yeah, Talwyn... I'm just going to upsize for a sec" he said, aiming the device at himself.

"Ratchet!" Talwyn screamed as her love reappeared where he was standing only a minute ago. She pulled him into a tight hug "I thought I lost you again" she half whispered.

"No no no Tal. I just shrunk"

"Shrunk?"

"Here, I'll show you" He said, aiming the remote towards the young woman. She disappeared and Ratchet quickly told Tool that they may be a while, fixing Clank.

"Okay, I'll lock up for now and be back tomorrow with Jewel, I'm sure she'll want to see you" Tool said, understanding the situation.

"Cool, Thanks. See you then" Ratchet replied before he Shrunk down to meet Talwyn.

"Took you awhile!" She exclaimed as the massive foot she was looking at earlier shrunk down to reveal the Young Lombax.

"Yeah, I couldn't just leave tool thinking 'what just happened?' " He explained, walking over and Taking her hand.

"So, when did you get that crazy device?"

"Oh this?" He said, holding up the shrink ray. "I got it about a year after I escaped from Dreadzone, I used it to get to the Technomite cities, which were obviously small"

"What's Dreadzone..? And who are the Technomites..?"

"I really haven't told you much about my life, haven't I?"

"Nope, you haven't. Although since we met it was all 'stop Tachyon' and then 'find Clank' and now it's 'save Clank' so there hasn't been much casual talk"

"Yeah, well, how about I tell you everything over dinner tonight"

"Sounds great"

They reached the entry point where the Security Officer was waiting quickly. The bot gestured at them to follow as he jumped down into Clank.

"Ladies First" Ratchet said, adding a sarcastic bow to match his words.

"How far down is it?" She asked, smiling as a plan formed in her head

"Not far, and there's padding at the bottom" Ratchet answered, saying just what she wanted to hear

"Okay, then I guess it is ladies first" she said, pushing him over the side and jumping down after him.

"Ooph" Ratchet grunted as he got the metal ground on his side. Talwyn landed half a second later, on her feet, and looked around. It was pitch black, Clanks power was off. She rushed over to the man on the ground next to her

"You said there was padding!" She exclaimed "I wouldn't have done that otherwise!"

"Well, there was padding. I didn't know he got rid of it."

"Well, sorry. I just thought I'd have a bit of fun..."

"No worries, If I was 100% sure, I would've done the same" he said, matter of factly.

"Well, thats nice to know" she said, her voice full of sarcasm. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up, nearly losing balance when he spun her around and pulled her into a hug. "I still love you Tal" he said, making her heart leap and her stomach full up with butterflies.

"I love you too" she said, giving the man in front of her the same effect. A shout from behind them made them jump apart suddenly.

"Hey! Lovebirds! This way!" They heard the old bot shout. "There's plenty of time for that later" he chuckled.

The couple rolled their eyes and entwined their hands for the walk. They quickly found the old cops torchlight and made their way over to them. They walked into a room and the cop gave them a torch each.

"Take a couple, I'd suggest a gadgetron model, you'll be paying more for the megacorp ammo since clank only had gadgetron vendors.

"Wow!" Ratchet exclaimed as he flicked on the torch and scanned the room "These are most of my old weapons!"

"Yeap, from the bomb glove, to your ry3no. Basically all your non grummelnet weapons from your previous adventures.

"Cool!

"Now I'd say grab 5 different weapons, for 5 different occasions, and because of ammo.

Ratchet looked through the shelves taking, as the security bot suggested, 5 weapons. The Blaster. The Plasma coil. The nitro launcher. The magma cannon and the Sniper Mine. Talwyn grabbed only the Annihilator to accompany her own pistol that's always on her belt.

"Okay, just make your way to his core CPU. Blast any virus that gets in your way, and I'll meet you there, I've got... uhh, other, things to attend to.

"Right... well, see you soon then" Talwyn said

"Yeah, I guess you'll know when we get there?" Ratchet asked

"Nah, you can figure it out" he said, walking off "Good luck you two!".


	9. Chapter 9: From Peace to Death

Hey All, Sorry this chapters a bit late. I got exams coming up and I've actually (Sorta) been studying. Plus I had 2 assessments today that I been stressing over. But all in all the next chapter has arrived! Enjoy it, and remember to post your thoughts on a review :)

* * *

"Ratchet... what was that...?" Talwyn asked, her voice dotted with concern

"What?" He replied. He couldn't see anything in this dark passage. One of their torches had already ran out of battery and the other was getting dim.

"I saw a red flash over there" she pointed

"Well, lets check it out then" Ratchet said, handing her the torch and pulling out his plasma coil "better we get it before it gets us"

She nodded, understanding the situation and gripped her pistol

They continued forward, through the darkness, trying not to get lost.

"So, where did you say it was?" He doubted "are you sure there was anything at all...?"

"I'm sure there was" she snapped defensively "it just retreated or something"

He have up the argument, knowing how stubborn the Markazian could get. He looked down at the map the guard had given them. An old looking device similar in looks to a large kindle.

"So, the map says we need to take a left here, go straight up the corridor, and there should be a door..."

"Okay, cool. And that will take...?"

"20 minutes for the whole thing, depending on how bad this Cragmite virus is, then, we can teleport out, and size up, than, food." He explained, stomach growling at the last word he said.

"Right, lets make it quick then, I need to have a proper sleep for once, and going through Clank, whilst shrunken down doesn't help"

"I know, I know... you didn't have to come, ya know? I'm capable of doing this myself"

"Well, its not like you gave me much of a choice. Plus, I'm not letting you out of my sight again" she said, her voice stern "not after what happened after finding Clank"

"Hey! That was a one off thing, it won't happen again, one in a million!"

"Well, I'm just making sure it won't" she smirked cheekily

"You don't need to baby me Tal, I can handle my own!"

"Sure sure, keep thinking that Lombax" she smiled, winding him up further

"Hey, now listen here-"

His voice muffled as her lips came down on his

"I'm just kidding around Ratchet, I know you're a one man army" She smiled "now c'mon, lets fix Clank, the powers even on in the control room where we're headed" she pointed towards the door at the end of the corridor. A faint red glow was emitting from the cracks around the door, pulsing, moving around in a strange fashion

"Uhh, Tal. I don't think that's a light, looks more like an electric pulse from something else, its too demonic for Clank..." He grabbed his wrench and got ready for battle, just in case something bad was about to happen…

He got up slowly, disoriented from the explosion. He couldn't hear a thing, he looked to his left and saw more red flashes, pulling a unconscious Talwyn across the floor. He cursed in his mind and tried to reach for his wrench, only to find that his legs were bound by the strange red things. He stopped struggling for a second to observe and analyse the ambushers. They looked like smaller red cragmites with slightly enhanced abilities, and they were made out of electricity, hence the pulsing he saw before. He pulled out his vox industries magma cannon and pulled the trigger. The pyrocidic shell burst, scarring his leg, but the Red Cragmites retreated, probably hurt from the shock. He picked up his wrench and went over to where he last saw Talwyn. The Electric-Based Cragmites actually lot up the room well, but now that they were gone, he was blindly stumbling through the dark.

Ooph. He landed in the ground, tripping over what he presumed was Talwyn. She was still unconscious, deep in her dreams, oblivious to the little fiends. He picked her up and moved her to the closest supply closet. Setting her down, in the middle of the small room, he looked at how peaceful she was in her sleep and decided to leave her here, resting without stress. He scrawled a quick note and got his plasma coil out. When he closed the door he used the hot weapon to deal the door shut, so no one could get to her. He then set off , walking towards the red pulsing light emitting from the central control room. He shot a grenade from his Nitro Launcher and stormed in. He was easily outnumbered, 100 to 1 but Ratchet was determined to get himself, his friend, and his girlfriend clean and safe from these red swarmers. Blaster in one hand, wrench in the other he swung and shot at everything he saw. The red engulfed him, quicker than anticipated, he dropped his weapons, jumped as high as he could, and shot another grenade out of his nitro launcher. The blast singed his tail and his feet, but got rid of most of the miniature red Cragmites. There were three left. Ratchet took out his plasma coil and aimed for the one in between. The shot sparked out, diminishing the other two. Ratchet was alone. His thoughts went back to Talwyn... peacefully sleeping in the locked supply closet around 200 meters away. He decided he should fix Clank first, the quicker he was up and running, the better he would feel about everything. He got to work, soldering the broken pieces back on and fixed snapped wire, an hour later, his friend was starting up, and Ratchet ran to get his loved one. Left, down the corridor, 5th door on the right, the only one soldered shut. He quickly got through the door, using the same method he used to lock it before. The light flicked on as the sensor detected movement. Guilt poured down on Ratchet as he saw the woman in front of him. From her waist down she was heavily scarred, burnt, and bleeding slightly from when the Electric Cragmites pulled at her.

Is she still alive...?


	10. Chapter 10: Doctor, anyone?

Hello! Another chapter is here! Enjoy it, and remember to post a review! :)

* * *

He ran out, looking for a medical closet. Right at the end of the corridor he saw what he was looking for, a big red plus on one of the doors. He thought back to movies and grabbed what he thought he needed. Two bottles of nanotech, bandages, scissors and some water. He arrived at the closet and kneeled down beside Talwyn. He took off her shoes and cut her pants off to clear the wound. He wiped away the blood, using water and a soft blanket he found on the shelf behind him. He took out the bandage and started wrapping it around her left leg which started shaking in pain

"Don't worry Tal" he cooed, knowing she couldn't hear him "its gonna be okay"

When he finished bandaging her legs and waist, he carefully picked her up and carried her to the main control room. When inside, he calibrated the teleporter to send them just outside Clank, from there he would zap Talwyn and himself up to size. He placed his old weapons on the bench and picked Talwyn up again. He walked over to the teleporter and found himself walking around his garage, still ant sized. Setting Talwyn down he got out the remote like device and both Tal and himself. He picked the unconscious woman up again and placed her down carefully on his bed. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before checking on Clank. Clank was sitting up when Ratchet approached him, sorting through files in his metallic head.

"Hello Ratchet... I seem to have been shut down for a while, did I miss anything? Where are we?"

"Yeah... quite a bit actually... and Veldin. Solana Galaxy. But what's the last thing you remember?"

"We had just finished finished holo-chatting with Miss Apogee"

"Wow, you've missed a bit more than I thought, that virus mustn't have been good..."

"Virus?"

"Yeah, see, straight after the call, a metal sphere rammed into our ship, knocking me out, and streaming out cryosleep so I wouldn't wake up and a tentacle from the sphere zapped you and gave you a virus. Talwyn found us, cut the tentacles off you and Aphelion and pushed the weird pod away, but found out it had a dead cragmite in it. So, we decided to track it to make sure it doesn't happen again. We eventually found the docking vessel and you were up before we entered it. Something must've happened there though, cause there was blood, everywhere. Then a machine somehow activated and spelt out on the screen 'memory wormhole device active' or and we got zapped back here, planet Veldin. Then, I got shrunk by your back up security bot and saved you, but Tal got hurt, shes in my room at the moment, unconscious. I took some supplies from a medical closet in your head to fix her up a bit.

"Hmm, Interesting… And you say I was awake at one point?"  
"Yeah"

"It must've been a memory eraser virus. Slow working to begin with, but within the hour I wouldn't remember you, so, thank you Ratchet."  
"Hey, don't sweat it pal. Now, I'm gonna head off to get a doctor, the phone is down, but it'll only take 40 minutes if I run… Could you just look over Tal, make sure she's alright when she wakes up?"  
"Yes. Just go, we don't want it to get infected"

"Yeah, definitely. Thanks clank, see you soon… Oh, and theres some oil on the table for you!"

The wind slammed the door for him as he stepped out into the dark cold night. It was hot during the day here, but at night, it could be freezing sometimes, but Ratchet was determined to get help, in fear that Talwyn may not be able to walk for a while. He jogged through the night, stars above his head, few vegetation at his feet, and the sweet smell of home. He really missed this place, and it now seemed obvious to him why he got sent here.

20 minutes past and he could vaguely see the main town up ahead, lights streaming upwards to signal for supplies. It wouldn't be long before he was back with Clank and Talwyn, relaxing in the sun, possibly renting a pool to be set up outside the garage.

heard to his right. Highly likely just a Horny Toad, one swing of his wrench normally puts them in their place, even hoards of them weren't of much danger. He threw the millenium 12 at where the noise emitted from and was rewarded his a dull thud of the large from hitting the ground and a few bolts flying towards him, attracted by the magnetic pull of his wrench. He continued forwards, breaking into a sprint across the flattest part of the well known journey. A few minutes later, he arrived at the hospital, and stormed in. The few pairs of eyes dotted around the waiting room locked onto him as he stepped towards the counter.

"Uh, Hi, I need a doctor, a friend of mine has been injured. I've bandaged it up a bit, but I don't want it infected, could you grab a hover-van and drive there with me? its only 5 minutes."

"Yeah, sure" The voice behind the counter answered "It'll be a bit costly tho, I'll just get the doctor, and a driver, I'll be back in 2"

"Great, cool, I'll just rest for a bit" He sat down on a seat in the far corner of the room. He rubbed his eyes, finally feeling the fatigue of the past week. He heard footsteps coming towards him and looked up.

"Hey Ratchet" a voice snarled whilst holding a pistol to Ratchet's head.


	11. Chapter 11: Lucky Shot

Here's another Chapter guys, Hope you like it!

For this story I've made myself a bit of a goal too, get it over 100k words, Sound reasonable? Maybe 75k... Anyway, enjoy the read :)

* * *

The pistol fired and Ratchet lay on the ground. Head half concealed by a lake of blood, gasps around the room turned to shrieks. Laughter emerged from the evil do-er.

"Not so though now huh!? Hahahahaha"

She awoke from her dream, feeling hot, groggy and frightened from another one of her nightmares.

"Miss Apogee, are you alright?"

"Huh..? Oh Clank! You're back!" She pulled the little robot to a hug.

"Ahh" she yelped, and cursed fluently in Markazian

"Relax, Talwyn. Ratchet said you got knocked out during an explosion, and your legs were heavily scarred. He's bandaged you up, but he's run to the city centre to get a doctor"

She felt hot and sweaty all of a sudden and the pain searing through her legs didn't help

"Any painkillers?"

"Here" Clank said, getting the pills and a glass of water from the bedside table "I thought you'd need them"

"Thanks Clank" she breathed, drowning the pills in one big unladylike gulp

"So, are you feeling okay? I may be able to help you if you tell me something"

"Well…" She started, trying to form words in her mind that was slowly getting up to speed "My legs are killing me, I feel hot and sweaty, I'm very tired, and just… freaked out and worried."

"Worried?" The small bot asked

"Yeah… about Ratchet… I'm always worried about him…"

Clank felt unsure of what to say to that. He quickly pondered for a response until he finally said "Is there any way I can help?"

"Yeah…" she drifted "but…." She stopped talking.

"Miss Apogee, are you alright?"

She started shaking. Uncontrollably. Clank worried, but quickly decided it would be best if she were sleeping, not awake in pain. He stuck a needle into her, that injected a sleep syrup into her arm and she was soon fast asleep. Hopefully oblivious to her worries.

"Ratchet better hurry" the robot said to himself "The infections getting worse."

He walked into the garage and picked up a mug of steaming hot oil. Feeling a 'deja vu' moment he continued walking. Whilst maneuvering to the table he lost grip on the mug. It fell, sloshing out into the air, and that was when time stopped. 'Time anomaly on planet Veldin' Clank thought to himself in the voice of the annoying computer that controlled the great clock. The mug suddenly re-animated and fell to the floor, making a brown-black puddle the centre feature of the garage. Clank went to the kitchen area to get supplies to clean it up.

Ratchet saw the gun at his head and looked towards the owner

"I didn't know you we're coming back, Lombax"  
"And I didn't know that you were stupid enough to try this again, Varl"

"Wise words from a cat who's just about to die" he laughed as he pulled the trigger. The bullet seemed to be in front of him forever, as if time slowed down or something. The recoil on the weapon, and the idiots aiming made it a bad shot. The bullet only went through his cheek as he moved out of the way as much as he could. Pain seared through his cheek and he fell to the floor. His face was quickly concealed in blood and he thanked god that he was in a hospital. He just heard the last words of Varl before his mind plunged into itself.

"Not so though now huh!? Hahahahaha"

"That took longer than I thought it would" Clank muttered to himself as he heard the Ambulance siren approach the Garage.

He opened the door and greeted the doctors

"Hello"

"Uh, Hi, we're here about an unconscious woman with fatal leg wounds"

"Than you've got the right house, she's just in the back room

"Great, and I better let you know, your Lombax friend is wounded, he was shot in the Cheek by an old enemy of his. The doctors took awhile to find react to the situation and he's on the verge of death. We're doing everything we can to help him, but I'm afraid he may not pull through this time"

"W-what?" Clank spluttered. Ratchet, nearly dead? He can't be… Oh Ratchet… He thought. He was snapped back to attention as the naïve assistant started to re-brief the bad news

"Uhh, I said-"  
"No, I heard you, quick, get Talwyn from the Back and speed us to the hospital. I need to get to my friend.

They all got in the ambulance quickly and sped off towards the city centre. Clank was feeling just as emotionally draught as Talwyn said she had been before the seizure.

"You okay there, little guy?" The driver next to him asked

"Yeah…" His voice faded

"Don't worry about the little furry fella, he'll be fine. I may not know much about hospitality, but. I sure know what he can go through, there's nothing to worry about, don't you worry" The words comforted Clank little but he was thankful that the Driver had made the effort to do so.

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine… Where was he shot again?"

"It apparently went straight through his right cheek. Bounced off his jaw I heard. It was a horrible shot from the idiotic, petty thief Varl. I can't wait till that punks in prison. You remember him?"

Clank searched through his memory banks, finding the file that hosted the image of Varl

"Only just" He said, as a blurry image popped up into his head. Purply blue skin. Large strong jaw. Insect like feet. Then it hit him

Maybe there was another kid like Ratchet from when the Cragmites were originally vanquished


	12. Chapter 12 Hospitals are fun

I ended up writing during school and got a bit carried away, so, here's another chapter! Thanks to all who have written reviews, you're great people! Now, without further rambling, here's the chapter

* * *

'...Ratchet...' he heard his name '...please wake up...'

"I'm trying" he said, with no words escaping his lips. He felt someone lean on him, and hold his hand awkwardly. Talwyn maybe? No, the weight seemed to light and the hand too small and hard. He opened his eyes to find Clank lying next to him on his left. He tried speaking again

"Hey, Pal" he groaned, incomprehensibly. His eyes flickered open and he grabbed his best friends hand, returning the gesture.

"Ratchet?" Clank said looking up at the young mans face. His left eye was flickering open, adjusting to the bright light, while his right eye was covered, by a bandage that was covering half his face.

The Lombax moaned again and Clank could just make out the words 'doing' and 'pal'

"I am fine" he answered "I see you've seen some action"

"Yeah..." he said, clearing his throat. "How is she?"

"Talwyn? She is fine. The doctor said she'll be walking within the week"

"Good...good" he relaxed

"You on the other hand... no physical activity for at least 2 weeks"

"What? Why?"

Clank held up a mirror to show his friend the damage

"It went right through your cheek, you were lucky."

"Shit..." He said, seeing the bloody bandages covering his face "so, we'll be here for more than 2 weeks... could I see Tal?"

"No, you can not get up" Clank said firmly

"Oh C'mon Clank, please?"

"If you faint, I will laugh before helping you" the robot said annoyed.

Ratchet slowly got up, but regretted it in an instant, but his determination kept him stable. Clank lead the way, keeping an eye on Ratchet, making sure he wouldn't trip. They reached the room where Talwyn was being kept quickly as it was a short walk. He saw her in a hospital bed, resting silently like the sleeping beauty. He reached the bed and tapped her shoulder to get up. Half a minute later

"Holy mother of a Kerchu! What happened to you?!"

He yelped in pain as the woman pulled him to a hug.

"I was apparently shot, Clank knows the full story"

"I've been waiting for you since 2 in the morning when I first woke up here with q doctor leaning over me"

"Really? Well, what's the time?"

"Past lunch. But how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine" he lied "I've been through worse. But now you mention lunch, I haven't eaten in 4 days..."

"Ask the doctor, I'm sure you'll be allowed some"

"Yeah, soon. How are you though? Your legs were looking bad when I went back to you"

"I'll admit, they hurt like hell, but the doctor said all will be fine. You did really well cleaning it up he said"

"Yeah, I think I did. I was worried it would get infected"

"Yeah, it did. But a minor one, easy fix, nothing to worry about."

"Okay, good." He say down on the chair, feeling dizzy.

"You sure you're okay Ratchet?"

"Yes Tal, I'm fine, stop worrying"

"I wish I could" she muttered under her breath "so Clank, tell me what happened to him?"

"He ran to the hospital, and 20 minute run, for there, and some old enemy of his tried to kill him. The bullet went through his cheek"

"Through?! You said you were fine! That's obviously not fine."

"Well, it does hurt" he admitted

"How much?"

"Like a train rammed into half my face..."

"Ratchet! Go, go to your room, take some painkillers, rest, then eat. I don't want you in pain"

"Too late..." he breathed, and then wished he hadn't

"YOU WILL GO NOW AND REST OR SO HELP ME, I'LL-"

"Yeah. I will. Sorry Tal"

"I should think so. Clank, can you make sure he gets there"

"Sure. Come on Ratchet. Time to go."

"Yeah, yeah." He went over and kissed her goodbye "I'll see you soon"

She smiled and nodded "not too soon"

"Okay.." he signed, defeated. He knew she wouldn't react well to the situation. He waved as he left the room.

"I see you two are getting close" Clank smirked. He was happy that Ratchet had found love, and that he would be happy, even without the other Lombaxes. It was one more thing now pushed to the back of his robotic mind.

"Yeah" he smiled "I'm thinking of taking her somewhere cool, great sights around Veldin, ya know?"

"Like?"

"Well…. the Vexon abyss maybe, or Axel mountain, that's got some mean peaks".

"I think she will be impressed by both, but for now, relax, that's the best thing you can do for her" Clank said, knowing how worried Talwyn really was

"Yeah, I'll rest. I'm actually quite tired"

"Here, take some of these before you dose off" Clank said, handing over a couple of painkillers

"Thanks Clank. Its great to have someone to rely on" He smiled, and patted his robotic companion on the shoulder"

"It is alright, now sleep. I'll wake you up when its dinner time"

"Thanks Clank"

The robot went around the room, closing the curtains and shut the door as he left the small room. He was just passing Talwyns temporary room when she called out to him

"Yes Talwyn?" He replied, poking his head through the door

"Is Ratchet sleeping?" She asked, voice half whispering

"Yes, in a couple of minutes he'll be dead to the world… Figuratively speaking of course"

"Right. Thanks Clank. I'm probably gonna hit the hay too, could you wake me up first? I want to surprise him with something I was planning to give him on the way back to the station" She held out a small Adamantite carving, shaped like an Omniwrench. "My father got given this by an old Lombax friend of his, 'Kay-something'. I thought Ratchet would like it"  
"I think Ratchet would like that very much, but are you sure you'll be able to get to him? aren't your legs stilll damaged?"  
"Yeah, but there's a wheelchair out back, I'll just work my way into that"


	13. Chapter 13: Surprises and Happiness

Another chapter has arrived! Thanks to the 479 people who viewed my fanfic last month! Did you like it? You can let me know in a review :)

And now, enjoy the read

* * *

I was admiring the small statue Talwyn had given me 2 weeks ago at the hospital. An adamantite wrench statue, with Lombax written on it. It had may fathers name on it, that's what made it so intriguing. Talwyn told me it said 'Congrats on completing LPG high school Kaden'  
A gift from someone probably. A gift to my father. Along with Alisters pocket watch, it was probably the biggest connection to my family. The wrench itself was so detailed. It had little carvings all over it, along with actual wrench like properties, like the handle and the bolt adjuster... Talwyn snapped me out of my daze.  
"So, what are we doing today?" She hugged me, anticipation echoing in her voice  
"It's a surprise" I smirked. Ever since I told her about today's surprise, she wouldn't stop asking what it was, and I was having fun teasing her.  
"Oh, come on" she demanded "from what you've told me, you're gonna blindfold me and take me somewhere away from everyone else... and you said its going to be 'allot of fun'. That raises questions Lombax  
"We will have fun, but I can assure you, that not what we're doing today, well... it's not planned at least..."  
She rolled her eyes and just gave a dry laugh  
"You'd be lucky" she joked "so, when are we leaving?"  
"At 10 which gives us 1 more hour to snuggle, and another to get ready"  
She smiled at that and I pulled her close. She rested on my shoulder a bit before dozing off again and fell onto my chest. I kissed her on the cheek and set an alarm for 9 so I could have a bit of a small sleep too.

I woke up to a loud, obnoxious alarm, and a drool covered face. There was movement at Ratchet turned the alarm off  
"Talwyn!"  
"What?" I said, opening by eyes to find that Ratchets upper half was covered in my saliva.  
"Just remind me to never let you sleep on me again"  
"What? No? Sorry... its. It's just that your really soft, like a pillow, and I thought I was-"  
"Relax Tal, I'm just joking around, but I get the first shower!"  
"Yeah, go ahead"  
"And don't 'accidentally' walk in like you did last time either please.."  
"That was an accident, I was listening to music" I blushed. He just smiled at me, erasing the world from my memory. He came in closer, planting his lips on my drool covered ones. It only lasted a couple of seconds before he pulled away and wiped his face, which was now, darker and slimy, covered in my drool. U started giggling, unable to contain myself.  
"This does call for a shower" he laughed, joining me as we hopped out of bed. He walked into the bathroom and opened the ceiling window  
"Okay, I'll be 10 minutes" he shouted from behind the now closed door  
"Yup" I shouted back, deciding to head to the kitchen for a cloth to wipe my face with. Succeeding in my hunt, I finished clearing the saliva and went to grab a quick bite. A couple of 'granny Blargs Greatest Bikkies' went from the jar to my stomach and I wet to get my ear buds. They were wirelessly linked with the stereo so I to my music. Clank helped me set it up when we got back and Ratchet complained about a headache while I played my music. I went back to our room to get some fresher clothes on, these pjs stunk. Music blasting into my ears, I took off my top and turned around to get a new shirt, only to find a gazing Lombax standing in the doorway. I chose to ignore him and grabbed fresh clothes from my drawer.  
"What are you looking at?" I smirked, brushing past him, still topless.  
"I, uhh-" was all I heard before I closed the door and turned the shower on. Stripping further, I heard Ratchet shout an apology.  
"Don't worry about it" I smirked, having fun winding him up.

She closed the door and left me in a bit of a shock.  
Did she just do that?  
I tried to focus on todays later events but I couldn't push the thoughts away, not that I wanted to in all honesty. Finally, I walked our of the room to see Clank. It was 20 to10 and I needed to get the equipment for our sight-seeing. I explained to Clank what we were doing today  
"So, I need my old Hypershot. And my old Grindboots, she can use my latest Swingshot, and I got her some custom Grindboots for today... hence the night before's foot massage"  
"Ahh, I see, I'll get them now."  
It only took a second for Clank to get the stuff for me. I was pleased when I saw my old Grindboots in front of me.  
"Actually, second though, instead of the Hypershot, just get my first Swingshot and the Dynamo separate. I haven't used it in years! Remember how Helga made us pay for it? ...never really liked her..."  
"Ahh yes, memories" the robot smiled, pulling the two things out whilst putting the other in.  
"Thanks Clank" I said, grabbing the gadgets.  
I lay them out on the bench, except for Tals new boots I got yesterday. I got some 'Qwark-O's' from the pantry got breakfast, something to do while waiting for Tal.  
"I wonder what happened to him and snowball, his 'pet' war grok" I thought aloud  
"Its quark, he survived being inside the massive Protpet whilst we were blasting it"  
"Haha, true that" I agreed. Qwark would be fine.  
I heard the door open, and Talwyn came to the table, sitting down next to me.  
"Qwark-O's? "  
"Yeah, they're not as bad as you'd think"  
"Right... so, you ready to go?"  
I was wearing my casual clothing that I hadn't worn since Tachyon invaded metropolis. A light brown/orange leather shirt and light jeans that were tucked into my boots.  
"Yeap, you?"  
"As ready as I'll ever be"  
"Okay, lemme finnish this" I said, swallowing a mouthful of the cereal.  
I got up after devouring the mixture and beckoned Tal to follow.  
"You'll need this" I said, giving her the swingshot.  
"What about you?"  
"I'm using my older one" I said, holding it up.  
She nodded and I went over to Clank  
"C'mon Pal, you ready?"  
"Yes, and the taxi has arrived"  
"Taxi?" Tal asked confused  
"Yeap, and now here's the blindfold"  
I guided her to the taxi and the door was opened for us, it closed and the driver shot off, clear instructions not to speak, so it would be more of a surprise. We'd be there in about an hour.


	14. Chapter 14: Falling for Adventure

Hello again! Another chapter has come to be read! Thanks to everyone who's been doing reviews, and taking the time to read this. You are awesome!  
Now, here's the story :)

* * *

"Okay, you can take it off" The young Lombax said behind her. He'd blindfolded me and taken me somewhere. I remember the taxi going up, so we must be on a big hill or something. I did as he said and let out a small gasp as I saw the view in front of me. We were high. A lot higher than I thought. Five steps ahead of me is a deathly fall that I don't think anyone could survive. There were ants down below, until I realised they were houses, buses, and other big vehicles.

"Stunning isn't it?" He asked calmly, warping his arm around my waist

"It's gorgeous" I said, still dazed from the height. The breathtaking view that shone on my eyes made me re-think about this planet. It looks so barren compared to some others, yet its got the best views. I could see wheat farms, and tall trees blooming with dark purple fruit. Even a skyscraper way in the background.

"It is, isn't it. Now put your arm up"

"What? Why?" I questioned, moving my hand into the air. Something brushed past my hand and I looked up. Clouds. We were more than a mile in the air, yet, no trouble breathing… Another cool thing about this planet.

"We're over 4 K's up from the ground" He said, interrupting my thoughts "Now, the final surprise" He held out a shoe sized box. I grabbed it and was puzzled by the weight.

"Well, open it!" He exclaimed, catching me in my thoughts of what it could be. I took off the lid and unfolded the paper surrounding the object inside.

Dark Crimson Grindboots. I had always wanted a pair, but they were so expensive in Polaris, not to mention rare.

"I got the night before last, after you foot massage" He smirked, feeling pleased with himself. I planted a kiss on his lips and sat down to try them on. Perfect fit. All from a foot massage… I wonder how he did it. I looked up from my feet to see him holding his hand out to me. He had his ones on too, which made me think what else was planned for today.

"Close your eyes please? Just one more thing."

"Okay" I said, noticing Clank for the first time since we got here, just before I shut my eyes. I felt my hand become bare when he took my glove off, then covered again when he put something else on my hand. He grabbed my other hand.

"Now your gonna hate me for this but…" He tugged at me. Next thing I knew I was falling off the massive cliff he had taken me too.

What the hell was going on in his head! Was he trying to kill me? Chucking me off the cliff like this. I opened my eyes and looked to my left. he was still next to me, equipping some old gadget onto his wrist. 'Well, at least he knows what he's doing' I thought

"Okay!" He shouted, edging closer, and grabbing me around the waist. "Brace yourself"

"What?" I said, latching onto him. we're we gonna crash into a lake or something I looked down and saw a giant black hole, that we were going to plunge into soon, in the middle of which, was a green dot in the distance.

"Is that a versa target?" I asked. He smiled and took aim with the gadget which I now recognised as a really old swingshot. I hung on tight to him, knowing what would come next.

I grabbed around his shoulders, fighting against the G's that were pulling me off. We went around the versa target at least 6 times before we swung to the next one. We started moving at an even pace and I started to look around at the scenery. We we're going through a path that was cut into a forest. at the tips of the 300 meter tall trees I looked at my hand to find Ratchets latest swingshot fitted instead of my glove. I knew what he was planning now.

"Okay, it splits into two just up ahead. You go left. Ready?"  
"Yup" I grinned. Excited for the adventure.

He let go of me and I swung around the next versa target, taking the left path he told me to go to.

"It'll split us up soon, but just continue" He shouted, mid-air

"Okay, see you soon" I matched his shout as we split paths. I continued through, not losing pace, trying to beat Ratchet. Not that it was really a race, but a competition nevertheless.

After another minute of swinging I wondered how far this was gonna go. We'd already traveled 3 or 4 kilometers.

'Opph' I grunted as something came into contact with me mid-flight.

"Look down and land correctly" Ratchet shouted at me. He had knocked us off course. I looked down and saw a large metal pole. I clicked and got ready to land to try out my new present. The landing wasn't soft to say the least, and I just realised how hard this was. I lost balance, leaning too much to the right. I was re-balanced by a hand on my shoulder. He was right behind me. I smiled at him quickly, then returned my attention to the extreme sport we were partaking in.

"Okay, to jump, bend down, then quickly jolt up. The boots will disconnect for the jump, and reconnect when you land. Now, when I say, jump. I want you to jump. if you don't, that be a tough situation…"

"Okay, great way to make a girl feel comfortable" Sarcasm fluent in my voice

"Yeah, I know, it sounds stupid, but actually, the track doesn't end, it goes down to somewhere that's not on the itinerary"

"So, we're jumping… we're? We'll just go down… to the same place!"

"You'll see" He smirked. "Now look left for a sec"

I did so and lost balance again. He was still holding me so I didn't fall, but when I re-balanced I was stunned. Glowworms covered the wall. illuminating the cave

"So how did you find this?" I asked

"Long story… Childhood… Rule breaking… I'll tell you another time."

"Sure."

I focused my attention back up and saw light at the end of the tunnel. Nearly time to jump.

"Okay, get ready" He shouted in my ear. "3… 2… 1… JUMP!"

We were airborne yet again and I looked down at what was below. Boiling hot lava. No versa targets. How the hell were we gonna get out of this one.


	15. Chapter 15: Glass, Jewels and Happiness

Hello to all! Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to write a review :)

Enjoy

* * *

I put my arms around her waist and chest, hugging her tightly. I waited till the very last moment until I signalled Clank to take out his robo wings. We soured through the air, keeping our falling momentum but forcing it ahead so we wouldn't drown in the fiery pit below us. I looked around a bit, indulging the moment. I hadn't been on Veldin for 3 months let alone this spot. The Glass river was right ahead, the most reflective lake in this sector of Solana, a massive tourist attraction.

Tal finally spoke after a couple of seconds of awe from the reflective surface below us.

"Woah…"

"Cool, isn't it?"  
"A massive mirror… of course its cool! Must've cost a buck tho"

"It's not a mirror." I said, a plan forming in my head

"It's not…?"

"Clank, you can drop us now, we're close enough"  
"Wait, what? Clank no!" She tried, but Clank had already unlocked himself from me. He flew off, gaining speed as we dived into the water below. Ripples crossed the lake as we crashed down into the not so icy natural pool. She screamed at me when we resurfaced.

"Ratchet! Why did you drop us off in the middle of the lake?"  
"Lunch" I replied, looking around for a certain rock that signalled the entrance to our next destination.

"What? After all this we're going fishing?"

"No" I said, spotting the rocks "Follow me, we're going under for a bit

"Fine." She grumped "But this better be worth it"

"Ph it is" I said, before I took the dive. I swam through a hole in the ground, and looked back to find Talwyn close behind. The tunnel went up and led to a small metal room, free of the water.

"Interesting…" She commented "I've never been to anything like this before

"That's because this is the first of its kind, only popped up 2 years ago after battling the 'conservation congress party'. Now, if we go through here, there is an elevator that will also dry us off" I said, now pointing at what was ahead of us. I took her hand and led her through the door. It closed up when we were in and started hurling hot air at us as well as a water magnet to help drain our clothes. The door reopened when it finished its cycle and we entered the main Lobby.

"Reservation for two at the enclosed viewing area" I told the tall robot at the stall.

"Welcome, Rat-chet and Tal-wyn" it replied, trying its best at our names. "Your table is here" It pointed, showing us a teleporter.

"Thanks" We said together and walked towards the teleporter. The weird sensation of having your particles broken down and moved somewhere else overcame us as the machine activated. Something both Talwyn and I were used to. She gasped at the sights surrounding our table.

"Just another great view for the day" I smirked

"This is amazing" She said, looking up. We were in a small glass room underneath the lake. Schools of fish we're around as well as turtles, velkie, and even the occasional mini-shark. She pulled me into a tight hug and savored the moment. I returned the gesture and we we're there just 'hugging it out' for half a minute. When she finally let go, I pulled her over to the couch that was at the back of the room, facing a decent sized holo-screen. We wrapped our arms around each other as the movie I had planned for started. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I know that Talwyn wanted to see it. The action scenes weren't as realistic as I hoped. just running and dodging. No massive guns or anything! although I guess the main part of the movie was the romantic part…

"Ratchet… Ratchet… wake up!" I heard Tal say "Foods arrived."

She pulled me up, quickly seizing me from my dreams of Alister and the fight at The Great Clock.

The table was chocka with food, everything you could think of was there, including my all time favorites. I piled the feast onto my plate, as did Talwyn and we dug in.

"So how much did this all cost?" She asked after the first mouthful

"Uhh...sixteen thousand for the room reservation. six hundred for the movie since its still in the cinema. five thousand two hundred for the food, and then your present which you'll never know the price of."  
"Geez! Ya know, we could've just gone to a cheap bar, or the beach or something"

"Well, I thought this would be something special for our last week on Veldin, especially since most of it was us in the hospital"

"Yeah, but still. You must be rich to be able to afford this"

"And rich I am" I winked cheekily. She laughed at the comment and continued eating her meat.

After we had finished our food, I got out the last surprise out for today. A crystal pendant I saw when I went to Axiom City on planet Terachnos. It was a rare blue/red Crystal that was from a famous comet that crashed on the planet. No other jewels have been found like it.

"Now, last but not least. Here's your final gift" I said, holding up the oblong box that the pendant was held in.

"Now I wonder what this is…" She said, taking the box from me. As her eyes fell upon the piece of jewelry, she just sat there, looking at it. "Ratchet, this is… this is great… more than great." She put it around her neck, and looked at it once more. "I love it Ratchet" She smiled, standing up

"I glad you-" I got interrupted by a robotic voice over the main speaker

"Your time is up! You will be teleported out immediately!"

And we we're. We were back home, just like I had asked them to, although I thought they'd give us more warning than that

"So, you we're saying?"

"Oh, yeah. I glad you like it. I almost forgot I had given it to Clank after I found him. H reminded me about it when you gave me that adamantite wrench statue"

"Well, it looks gorgeous, where's it from?"

"A comet like no other, one as unique and special to the world as you are to me" I smiled. She blushed at the comment and I pulled her in for another hug.

"Love you Tal"

"I love you too"


	16. Chapter 16: The Frey

Hey all, another Chapter is here! Just a quick thanks to all who read this. I never thought anyone would actually read my stuff when I first posted the chapter, so thanks

Also, just wondering, do you think my chapters are too short? Do you want longer chapters, although they'll be less frequent then... Just put it in a review, along with what you think of this chapter of course ;) now enjoy!

* * *

We were cuddling on my bed that night watching 'My Blaster Runs Hot'. Qwarks movie he starred in recently. He mailed us a 'Supremely Awesome Edition' after hearing what happened and sent a letter saying:

I hope your okay my trusty sidekick! As for you Ratchet and Talwyn, try keep out of trouble, there are many dangers in Solana. Enjoy my movie!

Typical Qwark, but I was glad to hear from him. He'd helped slightly with getting through Nefarious' Space Station.

It was about halfway through the movie when we heard the bombs. A distant quarry of thuds in the background followed by the cities alarm bells signalling an invasion. I jumped out of bed and ran to the phone. I dialled Tools number quickly and hastily waited for a reply, hoping he'd respond.

"Tool! You there?"

"Ratchet! It's the Frey. They're bombing us and it looks like they're getting ready to send ground troops!"

"Crap. Any idea why?"

"Nope. We noticed they were being very sceptical during the last two weeks, but no idea what had provoked this attack"

"Okay, well, I'm coming now, I'll be with you shortly"

"Yep, and bring one of those fancy weapons of yours with you"

I hung up and raced towards my boots. Stuffing them on my feet, I heard Talwyns voice

"So what's happening?" She asked, sitting down next to me.

"Invasion. I'm going over to help."

"Okay. Well, I'm coming with you"

"No" I said firmly "you're not"

"Yes. I am" she argued back

"No, you're staying here, in this locked house, waiting for my safe return"

"Why?!" She almost screamed,annoyed at my immediate decision "why do I have to stay here while you go out and risk your life!?"

"3 reasons. 1, The Frey are known for mistreating woman, badly, rape cases everyday. I don't want that happening to you. 2, They will loot places, and I don't have security set up at the moment and 3. I love you and I want you to stay safe."

"Fine" She agreed, understanding my concern "Just don't die, okay?"

"Now when have I ever done that" I laughed. I gave her a quick kiss before running over to Clank who was working on something

"Ready Pal?" I asked my best friend as he put down some tools.

"Always" he smiled, handed me the keys to our hover bike and jumped on to my back.

"Be safe!" Talwyn called out to us

"You too!" I shouted before speeding off to the city.

It was a hasty ride. I took all the shortcuts I knew of, keeping my speed as high as I could have it without crashing. As we neared the city, we smelled smoke and saw flames. A 3rd of the buildings were either scorched, on fire, or missing. I turned up the speed, wanting to get there asap.

"Any plan of action today? Or is it just shoot, kill, and save?"

"The second option. That is the plan."

"Of course it is" The robot sighed, knowing that would be the answer. "Any weapon of choice? I've got plenty"

"I've always hated The Frey. So, can I have the second RYNO please. I'm looking for quick carnage today"

"Anything else?"

"Uhh, Bomb Glove, for the crowds, and the Fusion Rifle for the ships" I smiled, loving at how casually we were discussing this.

I twisted my hand around the handle, activating the brakes, stopping the bike and ourselves in seconds. The gate was shut. We needed another way in. I ran over to a tree, about 10 meters away from the massive wall that surrounded the city and started climbing. It soured over the wall in height and I reckoned I could long jump with Clank over to it, then glide down. Standing on a long, sturdy branch, level to the wall, I started running to gain momentum. We made the jump with the help of Clank and I looked down at the city below. Shrieks and shouts were heard from across the city. I got out my rifle and decided to shoot down a couple of ships. I had 12 shots, so I could take down 12 ships. Looking up I saw them, military style dropships, fitted with dual machine guns, and turret, and even a bomb launcher. I took aim and shot one, aiming for where the fuel tank was most likely to be. It went up in flames, and small chunks of metal flew down onto the city below. I continued shooting them down, one after the other, never missing a shot. The Frey quickly caught on and started dropping down the rest of their soldiers. Humanoid like creatures that looked stretched and had hard grey skin. Not one of the nicest looking species known. 2 of the drop ships had now come my way, shooting at me with uncanny accuracy. I leapt out of the way and no-scoped my last shot with the Fusion Rifle. Chucking it to the side I got out my Bomb Glove and threw a volley at the ships pilot. 2 we're straight on target whilst the third hit the left wing.

"Ratchet!" I heard Clank call my name "Take a step left!"

I did so and saw a bullet fly past where my head was a second ago, I looked behind me a saw two Frey behind me stuck in a time bomb.

"So, how many times have you saved me now?" I asked looking back at him

"More than you know" The small robot said. I saw a flash of shock on his face for a second, but he quickly wiped it away.

"You okay buddy?"

"Yes, just a bad memory…."

"Okay, we'll talk as soon as this is over with" I said, wondering what was going on, but ignoring it for now as there was a war raging on the ground below us. I jumped off the wall, and got another bomb ready as Clank too out his propellers and glided us down safely.


	17. Chapter 17: The End?

Hello to all. Another Chapter is here!

But I haven't been getting any reviews lately, and reviews are like motivation for the story. So could I please have some good reviews from all my readers out there please? And something critical so, something that could help the story progress and become better :)

Thanks to you all, and without any further wait, here's the story...

* * *

I found myself in a locked room. No windows, one firm metal door, and one speaker on the ceiling. I turned around I turned around, looking for Clank, he was gone. I slumped back down again and closed my eyes

'What have I done this time?' I thought to myself.

"Greetings, Lombax" The loudspeaker bursted, making me jump to the roof. "Enjoying your new quarters?"

"Who the hell are you!?" I shouted, looking up at the small, sliver speaker above me

"You'll find out soon enough, but first, a little game…."

I racked my brain, trying to figure out this voice, but I didn't recognise it from anywhere.

"What type of game?" I decided to ask. pushing my fear away.

"Oh just wait a second for it to kick in…." The man from the speaker laughed. His voice got quieter as he presumably walked away from the microphone. I heard a beep from the loudspeaker, signalling the 'surprise'. I got on my feet and bunched up my fists, ready for anything, except for what was just about to happen.

The walls around me started to corrode as a strong acid ate through them. It spreaded to the floor, pushing me into a corner, I looked at what was below. An obstacle course of sorts, slightly reminding me of the horrible and gruelling days at Dreadzone. As the acid crept closer to me, I decided to jump down to below and face that challenge, rather than get eaten by the green liquid. As I landed, another loudspeaker came on

"Well done, Lombax" He said the word with disgust "I did have high expectations, now for the second challenge"

I heard another bleep, signalling the next test. I cursed under my breath and the floor behind me started collapsing.

"Run my furry friend" The voice laughed once again.

I sprinted. dodging walls and cracks with every step. After a minute a massive cannonball shot right at me. I jumped just in time, but it whipped my tail, pain etched through it but I had to ignore it and keep running from this death trap. A hole was ahead of me, a massive unjumpable one, and it seemed to me that it was the way that I was meant to go. I jumped without looking, fearing what was below me but continuing, adrenaline pulsing through my veins. I landed with a thud, and looked up.

"Final challenge!" The voice giggled "5 of her, one of you, one is real the rest aren't, a typical situation I just had to put in to this test" He started laughing uncontrollably for a second before whispering

"The tick is clocking! Haha, whoops. The Clock is Ticking!"

I looked around, eying up the 5 Talwyn's that were held hostage around me. Each of them screaming for their life, I reached the verdict that the one to my left was the real her. I ran and punched the thug holding her in the face. He backed off and I went to look at Talwyn. Something wasn't right, I dropped her as the hologuise came off and revealing an ugly-looking fish creature. I looked around at the other four just as the men pulled the trigger

"times up…."

The last thing I remember was seeing a pool of blood surrounding four Talwyns, each looking at me with a face that said 'How could you be confused, it's me! Talwyn"

The building lurched, like gravity had just changed and a tranquilizer shot whizzed past me. The ground tilted to 45 degrees as I ran up the hill of this building. There were shouts from my captors

"Ships been hit! Ships being hit!" and ""Quick, shoot the bastard!"

More shots flew past as I continued scaling the falling ship. Reaching a door, I busted through and found myself in a drab grey corridor. 'They obviously hadn't put much thought into their interior decorating' I smiled to myself, running along. The ship kept tilting and I found myself running along the walls of the ship that was now at a 90 degree angle, heading down towards whatever planet was below us, presumably and hopefully Veldin. I spotted and escape hatch at the end of the corridor and sprinted even faster towards it. I got out my swingshot that I was amazed I still had, they even took my wrench of me! But nevertheless, my swingshot may be good in this situation.

I opened the hatch and looked outside, firmly holding the inside of the ship that was just about to fall down to its and its passengers doom. I recognized the spot below us. the ship was going to either narrowly avoid, or hit Axel mountain, the place I had taken Talwyn earlier. I decided to jump. I've done plenty of Halo-jumps before, although normally I have Clank to stop me, but that's where the swingshot would come in handy… I hoped.

I dived down, cutting through the air and gained some speed. I was approaching the versa target quicker than normal which made me worry, but I aimed and fired anyway. After spinning dizzily around the versa target for which felt like forever, I opened my eyes to look at the carnage, except there was none. It had fallen into the dark pit below me, and not even the brightest minds of veldin had any clue what was down there.

After coming to a complete stop I took out my cell and called Clank, hoping he was okay. Then I remembered Talwyn, dead. Shot in the head and now below me, with the rest of the Frey. I fought back tears and rang put the phone to my ear, waiting for my best friend to pick up.

"Ratchet?"

"Yeah… It's me"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just dangling from a versa target over the valley, could you come and get me please?"

"I am sorry, I am… Immobile.."

"What!?" I screamed, choking on my words "What happened"  
"My legs and lower body got caught under a massive rock… and it didn't end up too well…"

"Just hold on Clank, I'll fix you when I get back, I know the perfect thing…" I thought about the zoni that

"Tool has just left, he's got your position of your Nav unit, he will be there shortly"  
"Thanks Pal"

As I stepped into my garage alone, quickly to grab some cash, I went to my room and lay there for a while, holding the adamantine wrench statue Talwyn had given me. I knew I couldn't cry, not just yet. I had to help Clank. Venturing into the kitchen to grab my old Omniwrench 8000 I saw a note, with some hastily scribble words on it. My mind flew, was this a last note from Talwyn?

I ran over and grabbed it.


	18. Chapter 18: What's true?

**And another chapter is here!**

**Thanks to the reader who did the first critical/helpful review. I have it in mind now.**

**Please, to everyone else, It's always great to hear what you think! If you like it, say so, if there's something you hated, or thought was bad, say so. You have a right to be heard!**

**Thanks for reading and enjoy this actiony chapter :)**

* * *

'They're knocking down the door, it's going to give way soon… If I don't make it out of here alive, stay strong Ratchet.

I love you.'

-Tal

My heart sank. It had just confirmed it. Talwyn was dead. Gone from this world and into the next. I wiped a tear from my eye and banged my hand against the table. I growled in frustration at the pain that now seared through my fingers and dropped the wrench statue.

"No!" Was all I got to say before it smashed on the ground into a million pieces.

I gave up, and sat down on the floor, next to the mess. Leaning against the counter, I banged my head in frustration.

"...Stay strong..." I heard her voice.

"...I am… Immobile.." Clanks voice now said

"...It's going to give way soon…" Tals voice sounded again.

I opened my eyes, looking at the door. It was in perfect condition, no marks, or forced entry.

I looked beside me. Adamantite, dropped and now crumbles and dust. One of the hardest ores of Solana, breaking from a waist-high drop? Impossible.

My mind whizzed. Whats happened? Have I been set up?

I got up and felt very dizzy. I stumbled a bit, and fell.

I must've hit my head pretty hard….

A grumbling noise sounded from afar. It quickly got louder. I looked up, only to see a tidal wave crash through the house, taking everything with it.

I woke up with a start, head wet from the water. I opened my groggy eyes and let them adjust to the bright light. Someone was standing over me.

"Tool..?" I choked out, throat as dry as the Taboran Dessert.

"Nope, guess again." The voice above me responded.

I looked up, and made out an elongated, grey humanoid creature. One of The Frey.

"I must say, that was quite a traumatizing dream, wasn't it?" He asked, rhetorically

"What do you want with me?" I said, hoping for an answer, but he ignored me and continued what he was saying before.

"Yes, between that Markazian and your robot friend, there is quite enough drama to go around, don't you think? Although I assure you, they are both fine, worried perhaps about your whereabouts for the last 24 hours, but alive and living. Hallucinatory drugs are so advanced these days, we can even watch them like holo-films" He chuckled

"Why are you doing this to me!" I shouted, giving up the 'nice' tone.

"Oh, you play merely the smallest part in this. it is not you, I want to quarrel over, but your pesky planet you love so much, even though it's not your own. Our Cragmite informative, the one who shot you those two weeks ago informed to us you were dead. 'In a pool of blood' he said if I remember correctly. It was the perfect time to hatch our first small-scale invasion. You see. I Hate this planet. I Hate its people. I Hate everything about it. I was excited when Drek was going to blow it up. I was thrilled when the Tyhrranoid attacked. Both those things gave me hope, but you got in the way.

"What did they ever do to you?"

"School. I was brought up by them. They all bullied me, the teachers took a blind eye. I had abusive foster parents. The list continues, for a while if you must know. Now, I suggest you leave. Go back to Polaris, take your friends, and your valuable equipment - You know what the lesser beings of my kind are like - And leave. You can come back after a few years, and see what has changed, I might actually request it, but for now you are just a small pain in my bottom.

"I bet that's not all." I said, shifting into action.

I tripped him up, by kicking his legs. Now having the element of surprise, I grabbed his gun, and held him in a hostage position.

"You're really not the smartest, are you? Even a Blarg could've seen that one coming, and you're meant to be, the president is it? Of your race?"

He smiled, and laughed.

"You really think I'm not prepared?" He disappeared and reappeared at the doorway.

"Warp pad" was all he said before walking back casually.

I shot at him, but the pistol clicked, I threw it on the ground, and decided to charge him. I hit the ground hard after I dived and heard from a speaker "Hologram" and some more chuckles.

I decided to ignore him, and started running down the corridor on the left. Finding a door, similar to the one I saw whilst drugged up. It wasn't locked to my surprise, and I twisted the handle and looked outside. We were docking somewhere. A dark drab planet with deep brown water, but not toxic smell. My best guess was that this was their home planet, the nearest to Veldin.

In the distance I saw a cargo ship land, and two guys hopped out, carrying boxes. I decided that the ship was my best escape route, and I jumped into the unusually warm brown sea below me.

Hopping out of the water, I shook around a but, getting the worst of the wet out of my fur. The men had waked off but there was one sitting in the driver's seat, smoking. Now was my best chance. I scaled up the small hill and broke into a sprint as the ground leveled. I Dived and rammed him out of the ship, since the other door was open. The man looked up in shock and I said "Thanks for the ride" before jumping in and taking off.


	19. Chapter 19: Planning Justice

So, here's the next chapter, Enjoy it! And please write a review! It helps with my writing, and helps the next chapter come out quicker and better.

But for now. Read on!

* * *

"Shall we go after him Boss?"

"No. Let's see what he does…"  
"But you said-"  
"I know what I said. But my mind has been changed. That pesky little Lombax has been a thorn in my side for a long time, and i want to see him dead. But, I am a man of my word. If he leaves, he lives. Simple"

"And if he doesn't?"  
"Shoot on sight. Just like what you're going to do to the pathetic race who have cultivated this planet I've wanted for so long."

I was entering the Planets atmosphere, at high speeds, when I got a voice message on this ships ancient screen.

"Attention!" The old speaker crackled. "Your ship is one of The Frey. At this current time we are no longer on terms with each other. State your name and intentions to space your life."

"Ratchet!" I shouted "Escaping The Frey"

"You escaped!? How?" The voice reported back, seemingly mystified at my presence  
"Long story. Please, just let me land. I'll tell you everything."

"Very well, our missiles are unarmed. See you soon bud"

"Thanks Tool" I said, finally recognising the voice over the speakers clipping.

I landed after a short while of finding a spot in the half destroyed city. When I touched down, I was greeted by an over worried Talwyn and a grateful Tool. Clank was at HQ discussing the matter of the invasion.

"Next time, I'm coming with you." Was all Talwyn said to me, before taking my hand and walking me to the new HQ.

"About half an hour into battle, which was half an hour after you hung up, The Frey just stopped, and flew off on their massive ship. We wondered why, but realised after an hour of you not showing up. We then received this transmission, from, someone, who I know you don't like very much…"

He aimed the remote at a screen on the wall and played the recorded transmission.

It was the one who had shot me 2 weeks ago. Someone who, never liked me, and I never liked him. A horrible looking Cragmite named Varl.

"We have him. Your friend. Ratchet" He almost spat my name out. "I'll be taking care of him later… But for now I just thought I'd let you know he's locked up, in The Freys torture chamber, experiencing pain. Thats all for now" The screen faded and I turned to Tool

"Well, there was more than one lie in that! There was no physical torture or anything"

"Well, it's better that way then, we don't know why they wanted you, or what they're going to do to us but-"  
"I know" I cut him off. "They wanted me because I'm the protector. I've saved this planet twice, once from Drek, and once from the Tyhrranoids. They've never liked you. Hate you completely, He's been planning this for ages, but never done it because of me. two weeks ago when Varl shot me, and they became distant, they must've thought I was actually dead, especially since that twits so high up himself"

"Okay, now its making a bit more sense… But what's so bad about us that drives them this crazy?" Talwyn asked

"Childhood" I simply responded "bullying, unloving parents, now he's gonna kill everyone"

"Well, that's a massive over-reaction…" She muttered

"Do you think we could negotiate?" Tool asked

"No. But, I think we can sabotage the ship if we act fast. He just wanted me away, so, if we put the ship I came on, on auto pilot, then fly it off somewhere, they'll think I'm gone. Meanwhile, I'll be on another ship, with a couple of weapons, sabotage stuff, and hopefully delay the invasion another day so we can win the battle the next day."  
"Alright. But first, you need a little downtime. I'm sure he'll give you the night. He may be slightly evil, but nevertheless, he's a man of his word, now get some sleep. I can see the bags under your eyes through your fur… Any idea of what the drug was?"

"No Idea Tool, but… not a nice one, I can tell you that"

"Strong hallucinations?" headache? or a craving for something?"

"Very very strong hallucinations…"

"My beset guess it 'Semi-Chlorifrodial Vertamine' Semi meaning it doesn't leave you dreaming forever. Get some rest, you'll need it for tomorrow"  
"Thanks Tool. Oh, where's Clank, I better see him"

"Go through the door to your left. Main computers access room, he should be there"

"Thanks again" I said, waving him off. I walked over to the room to quickly tell Clank that I was okay, and was just going to rest

"Hey Pal"  
"Hello, Ratchet. I am glad that you are okay"

"Me too Pal, can I just ask tho, what happened?"

"A sniper with a tranquilizer gun, shot you in the neck, than someone knocked be out and presumably chucked me aside"  
"You alright from that?"

"Yes, I am fine. No damage."

"Good. Now I'm gonna get some rest for tomorrow, Tool will fill you in on the plan. Be ready at around 8 tomorrow for it"

"I will. Now go, have your rest"

"Sure thing Pal" I smiled at my friend. I closed the door and took Talwyns hand as she led me to our room for the night. When we got there, I lay down in my clothes, fatigue finally hitting me.

"Take off your boots at least" Talwyn smiled, making me do as she said.

We both got into bed and wrapped our arms around each other. Normality swooped over me and I nearly forgot all my current problems while we lay there, until about after 10 minutes she asked the inevitable question that had been buzzing through our minds.

"So… What happened in your hallucinations…?"


End file.
